CNN – Europe/Mideast/Africa

By Jack Guy, CNN Cocaine disguised as charcoal with a potential street value of up to 35 million euros ($41.4 million) has been seized in a joint operation between Irish and Dutch authorities. The drugs were found inside two shipping containers from South America that arrived at the port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, as

By Luke McGee, CNN The European Union has unveiled some of the world’s most ambitious proposals to reduce carbon emissions and wean its 27 members off fossil fuels, including taxes on emissions-heavy imports into the union and non-renewable energy, such as oil, gas and coal. The package of measures looks to fundamentally transform the world’s

By Delia Gallagher, CNN Pope Francis was discharged from Gemelli University Hospital in Rome on Wednesday, 10 days after undergoing surgery for colon diverticulitis. In response to questions from journalists, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the pontiff was discharged shortly after 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET). Bruni added that before returning to the

By David McKenzie, Pierre Bairin and Samantha Beech, CNN Soldiers and police were struggling to restore order in parts of South Africa on Tuesday, as police said the number of people killed in days of protests and looting rose to at least 72 in some of the worst violence the country has seen in years.

By Ivana Kottasová, CNN As Europe struggles with a rising number of coronavirus cases caused by the Delta variant, several countries are making vaccinations compulsory for health care workers, and some leaders are even considering making shots mandatory for all. France and Greece both announced new vaccine requirements on Monday, following in the footsteps of

By Sharon Braithwaite and Martin Goillandeau, CNN Police in Georgia were forced to eject dozens of people from Parliament after journalists and opposition lawmakers tried to force their way into the lower house in protest of a news cameraman’s death, according to agency video footage and reports. Protesters were demanding Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili resign

By Aqeel Najim and Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN The death toll in a fire at a hospital treating coronavirus patients in southeastern Iraq has risen to at least 92, according to health officials. Some 50 others were injured in the Monday night blaze at the Al-Hussein Hospital in the city of Nasiriya. Officials believe the fire

By David McKenzie and Pierre Bairin, CNN South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has deployed the country’s military to restore calm after days of violent protests and looting sparked by the imprisonment of former leader Jacob Zuma. Ramaphosa addressed the nation Monday evening, calling for calm after at least six people died in the violence and

By Jomana Karadsheh and Jassar Al-Tahat, CNN A former top adviser to Jordan’s king and a member of the country’s royal family have been sentenced to 15 years in prison during a landmark sedition trial that centered on former Crown Prince Hamzah bin al-Hussein. Bassem Awadallah, a dual Jordanian-US citizen and former chief of Jordan’s

By Sheena McKenzie, CNN A derelict plot on the banks of the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, might seem like an unusual epicenter for a political earthquake. But that was before Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s populist government announced a controversial plan for a prestigious Shanghai university to open its first overseas campus there in 2024

By Hada Messia and Sharon Braithwaite, CNN Pope Francis appeared in public on Sunday for the first time since undergoing surgery for colon diverticulitis last week, as he held his weekly Angelus prayer from a hospital window. “I am happy to be able to keep the Sunday appointment of the Angelus, even here from the

By Mia Alberti Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s ruling Prosperity Party (PP) overwhelmingly won general elections Saturday, meaning he will stay in power another term, according to CNN affiliate Nation Media Group. Abiy’s party is expected take more than 410 of the 546 parliamentary seats in the first round of the contest, Ethiopia’s sixth national

By Amy Cassidy, Henrik Pettersson and Rob Picheta, CNN Nine people have been killed after a plane carrying skydivers crashed near the runway at Orebro airport in Sweden. A small aircraft with one pilot carrying eight parachuters crashed at 7.23 p.m. local time on Thursday shortly after takeoff and then caught fire, killing everyone on

By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN A Metropolitan Police officer pleaded guilty Friday to murdering marketing executive Sarah Everard, whose disappearance while walking home in London prompted an outpouring across social media from women sharing their own experiences of sexual assault and harassment. Wayne Couzens, a serving police constable whose “primary role was uniformed patrol duties of

By David McKenzie, CNN Patients are crammed into every corner of the hospital’s emergency room ward. They lie on beds and gurneys, or sit slumped in wheelchairs. Many suck on oxygen, but nobody talks. Some die while waiting for a bed. On the worst nights in Johannesburg, currently in the grips of a terrible wave

By James Frater and Mia Alberti, CNN On Thursday the European Parliament condemned in the “strongest possible terms” a new law in Hungary which many critics say is homophobic, and urged the European Commission to impose punitive measures such as budget cuts. European lawmakers “call on the Commission to launch an accelerated infringement procedure and

By Jack Guy and Martin Goillandeau, CNN Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has left hospital after four days of treatment for Covid-19, according to a government announcement Thursday. Bettel will resume his duties from Friday after leaving hospital “given the improvement of his health condition,” according to the statement. Bettel will work from home until

By Rob Picheta and Denis Lapin, CNN Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has said it will give female soldiers “more comfortable” heels with a different kind of lacing, following a sexism outcry over its decision to train troops to march in high heeled footwear. The ministry had required women from the Ukrainian armed forces to march

By David McKenzie, CNN Former South African President Jacob Zuma handed himself over to police late Wednesday, authorities said, to begin a 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court. The move ended days of intense speculation over whether the police and former President would comply with the country’s Constitutional Court for Zuma’s arrest and imprisonment.

By Caroline Faraj, Eleni Giokos and Tamara Qiblawi, CNN An explosion on a container ship docked at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port late Wednesday caused a large fire and was felt across the city, authorities said. There were no reported deaths or injuries and the fire was brought under control, authorities said. The Comoros Islands-owned ship

By Emmet Lyons and Rosanne Roobeek, CNN; with reporting by Reuters Celebrity Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, known for his investigative work exposing the criminal underworld, is “fighting for his life” after being shot in the Netherlands’ capital. “He was seriously wounded and is fighting for his life,” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said

By Al Goodman, CNN Spanish police have arrested three people over the killing of a male nursing assistant in a suspected homophobic attack that prompted protests across the country. The investigation into the death of Samuel Luiz, 24, is ongoing and no motive has been ruled out — including the possibility that it was a

By Nimi Princewill, CNN, and Reuters Authorities in Zambia held a state funeral Wednesday for the country’s first president and independence leader, Kenneth Kaunda, amid ongoing controversy over his burial site. Kaunda’s funeral arrangements became the subject of a court challenge after the Zambian government announced plans to inter the late nationalist at a presidential